Beeken, band make top four finalists

Indiana’s new celebrity and his band, Restless Road, have two feats to celebrate this week.

Not only did Zach Beeken’s band, Restless Road, make the top four finalists on Fox’s “The X Factor,” they’ve also reached the No. 1 spot in country sales on iTunes.

As of about 1:30 a.m. today the group’s song, “Wake Me Up,” by Avicii, moved to the top spot. They performed “Wake Me Up” on Wednesday’s live broadcast of the show as well as “Red” by Taylor Swift. The band alerted their loyal fans of the accomplishment around 1:30 a.m. today.

“Holy crap! We are #1 on iTunes country and top 4 on @TheXFactorUSA. Best day ever,” Restless Road tweeted early this morning on their account @RestlessRdMusic.

A little different from previous weeks, Wednesday’s show required contestants to perform two songs with the themes “Diva” and “Unplugged.”

Their performance of “Wake Me Up” featured a solo from Beeken, the first few seconds of it lost behind the screams of his fans in the audience.

The performance earned the group a standing ovation from judges and the audience, and judge Demi Lovato even cried.

“You’re not in my category but I’m really proud of you, and that was so beautiful,” Lovato said on the show. “You just earned your spot in the finals. I’m so impressed.”

America had the same sentiment, because fans voted to see Restless Road live another week.

The judges’ comments and cheers from fans even brought tears to the boys’ eyes.

“Zach, Colton, Andrew, you guys are our boys. You need to cry because this is real and this is happening,” said judge Paulina Rubio.

“I feel very proud of you and if that doesn’t get you into the semifinal there’s something seriously wrong here,” said Simon Cowell, show creator and judge.

With only two weeks left in the competition, there are four contestants remaining. In addition to Restless Road, the group Alex and Sierra remains, as well as solo acts Jeff Gutt and Carlito Olivera.

Next week’s round will be another double-elimination and the competition will come to an end on Dec. 19.

“I will never forget that moment,” Beeken tweeted following Wednesday’s performance. On Thursday, he showed the same optimism: “Tonight was the best night of my life.”

Ellen Matis is the digital media coordinator and a staff writer at The Indiana Gazette. She is the person behind the Gazette's social media. A 2012 graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Ellen has a degree in journalism and public relations.
Follow her on Twitter, @EllenMatis, or email her at
ematis@indianagazette.net.
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